Lt. Governor Becky Skillman joined executives on Tuesday from Paul Wurth
Inc., an international steel and iron engineering manufacturer, to announce
the company's plans to expand its operations in Valparaiso, creating up to
40 new jobs by 2018.

A subsidiary of the Luxembourg-headquartered Paul Wurth S.A., the company
has invested $3.6 million to purchase, renovate, and equip a 55,000
square-foot facility located at 2800 E. Evans Ave. The new location, which
opened its doors in May of this year, specializes in the sale of new spare
parts and the reconditioning of used parts for blast furnaces.

“Northwest Indiana's steel and engineering industries receive an added boost
with the expansion of Paul Wurth,” Skillman said. “With this announcement,
Indiana has once again proven its competitiveness not only in the domestic
market, but in the global market as well.”

“The company needed to expand its service operations, which focuses on
servicing its equipment used in area steel mills,” said Romain Frieden,
president of Paul Wurth. “We have found a majority of our customers are
located in the Northwest Indiana area. Therefore, we opened our shop in the
area where most of the blast furnaces and plants are located. This, along
with Indiana's infrastructure of highways, railways and air transportation,
makes this state an ideal area for us to be located.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Paul Wurth up to
$400,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation
plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are
hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of
Valparaiso also supports this expansion.

“We are very pleased that this international engineering company has chosen
to invest in Valparaiso,” said Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas. “Paul Wurth has
a long history of providing technological expertise in the steel industry,
specifically for blast furnaces; these are good jobs and we couldn't be
happier to welcome them into our city. They are moving into an existing
building in Valparaiso, one that housed Task Force Tips for many years—it's
a great building and offers Paul Wurth a solid foundation to be successful.”